How Coca-Cola Integrates Well-Being Into the Workplace

Coca-Cola's bike-sharing program at its Atlanta headquarters lets employees check out a cycle and helmet for a workday ride.

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Anyone working in an office knows how tough it can be to take stretching breaks or limit afternoon snacks during a busy work week. Coca-Cola aims to help its staff by making well-being part of the company’s everyday experience.

Coke took an introspective look at its health and well-being offerings, which span the physical, emotional, social, and financial. “We are constantly learning what works and what doesn't,” says Benefits Director Bob Florio. “We try to evolve our thinking as well.”

The result is a multilayered initiative that brings together parallel programs for new and existing employees under one umbrella to nurture the whole employee. The goal is help all employees be happier and healthier by making programs and resources available. Here are a few ways employees can engage.

Shaping Choice

In addition to offering diverse beverage choices—such as low-calorie and calorie-free beverages, 100 percent fruit juice blends and smaller-size portions—Coke has made nutrition a priority for all its employees.

“At our Atlanta headquarters, we have a dietician on site,” Florio says, and calorie counts for six company dining locations are posted online. Coke also makes it convenient to choose nutritious options with an onsite market offering fresh fruit, grocery essentials and takeout meals.

Uplift: A World-Class Gym for Employees

A newly upgraded gym at the Atlanta campus includes 60 cardio machines, a spin room, a group fitness studio, and a sound-protected studio for activities such as yoga and tai chi.

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Getting Fit with #TeamCoke

Coke’s activity tracker from Virgin Pulse helps employees track their sleep and steps, connecting with a platform where they can set goals, join fitness challenges and connect with colleagues. “Many employees have access to this,” notes Florio. “We provide subsidies for activity trackers, like the Misfit Shine, and create opportunities for employees to compete and become more active. In 2015, for example, employees from across the company competed in Coke’s global steps challenge, where business groups and small teams challenged each other to see who could take the most steps. Together, Coke employees logged a total of 2.7 billion steps across the globe.

This year, employees had the chance to challenge themselves even further: “Because of Coca-Cola's relationship with the Olympics,” says Cindy Commander, a member of the global well-being team, “we made the steps challenge part of our large employee engagement effort with the Olympics, and a number of employees from around the world won a trip to Rio this summer.”

Facilities at Coca-Cola's Atlanta HQ

In addition to an on-site care center and pharmacy, Coca-Cola provides locker rooms for active commuters, a 'backyard' on campus and even diversions, like video gaming, for its employees.

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Integrating Well-Being Into the Workplace

Coke brings self-care into the workplace by making well-being choices part of the physical environment, both at the Atlanta headquarters and in offices around the world, says Florio. This includes simple measures, such as staff-led coordinated stretch breaks, and benefits such as onsite health screenings and a 24-hour confidential employee assistance program.

At Coke’s headquarters, a state-of-the-art suite of well-being services includes a medical care center run by Emory Healthcare, a full-service pharmacy, and a fitness facility that offers everything from exercise classes to massages to physical therapy. Coke’s on-site well-being coaching services can help employees with weight management, smoking cessation, stress reduction and more.

There are also informal ways to stay active and de-stress on campus. “We have a lot of common work space that gives people the opportunity to leave their desk and work outside or in one of our dining facilities along Main Street,” says Commander, “or to use a treadmill desk.” In addition, Coca-Cola leaders will often coordinate group walks on or near the campus.

“We encourage all our employees to focus on well-being,” says Florio, “but it’s up to them as to how they decide to integrate it into their lives.”

Unique Co-Working Spaces

The Atlanta campus offers a range of co-working options, from stand-or-sit desks in a cafe-lounge environment to individual privacy booths to outdoor space.

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Paving the Way with Parental Leave

In addition to onsite private rooms reserved for nursing mothers, Coke is embracing a new parental leave policy in the U.S. that reinforces its commitment to well-being for employees by allowing them six weeks of paid leave time to tend to any family care stemming from a new family arrival, in addition to six to eight weeks of paid leave for birth mothers. This new policy, which launches on January 1, 2017, “aligns with our focus on social well-being,” says Florio. “Social well-being is about time spent with family and friends, and our connections to the community.”

Financial Counseling and Onsite Banking

In addition to other onsite conveniences on the Atlanta campus that help employees balance external priorities with work—such as a drycleaner, market and ATM—Coke’s credit union offers employees and their families easy access to banking and financial services. In keeping with the company’s holistic approach to well-being, the credit union’s services can help employees navigate the details of long-term care, retirement, and estate planning.